In general, a chart recorder receives the data measured by a measurement instrument, and records and plots directly on recording paper promptly. The chart recorder is commonly applied for observing the variation trend of signals produced by a monitoring instrument. Regarding to the past development of the chart recorder, the earliest patent was awarded to William Henry Bristol in the U.S. Pat. No. 389,635 entitled “Pressure Indicator and Recorder” in 1888. The patent disclosed a pressure indicator and recorder similar to a chart recorder in the form of a disk. The pressure indicator and recorder can be applied to monitoring the pressure of fluids such as vapor, liquids, and gases, or even to barometers, thermometers, and other analog measurement instruments. With the increased demand for monitoring and the progress of technologies, current chart recorders are widely applied to measurements, monitoring, and recording in various scientific researches. Thereby, we can see some patents related to chart recorders appear increasingly including the formats and operations of recording paper, methods for printing and displaying, and record transmission methods. The important patents related to chart recorders in the US are summarized in Table 1.
TABLE 1U.S. Pat. No./applicationDate ofSer. No.TitlePatentInventorsU.S. Pat. No. Pressure indicator Sep. 18, 1888William H.389,635and recorderBristolU.S. Pat. No. Water stage Dec. 7, 1915John C. 1,163,279recorderStevensU.S. Pat. No. Programmable strip Dec. 16, 1980Stires John C 4,240,083chart recorderIii [Us]U.S. Pat. No. Strip chart recorderFeb. 24, 1981Paulsen Dean 4,253,104RU.S. Pat. No.System for Aug. 28, 1984Phillips Patrick4,468,678controllingG; Fairchilda strip chart William GrecorderU.S. Pat. No. Chart recorder with Mar. 31, 1992Sullivan5,101,220thermal print Michael Jhead and soundgeneratorU.S. application Chart recorder Jan. 9, 2003Levine Ser.programmingMatthewNo. 2003/007,019interfaceU.S. Pat. No. Wireless chart Nov. 14, 2006Lamotte7,135,987recorderRobert; Perrysystem and methodWilliam;SaltzsteinWilliam
Although there exists lot of computerized chart recorders currently, they do not address on management of considerable quantities of measurement data and on quality assurance, which is valued by modern measurement professionals. In addition, they are high-priced. The amount of samples from inspection operations in exterior environments is extremely huge; therefore, it is necessary to fulfill quality assurance promptly. If the inspection target is location-specific, its location should be recorded with clarity, and the overall inspection progress of the inspection operations in exterior environments should be understood rapidly. Because of tight schedule, each of the inspection operations in exterior environments needs to have a backup chart recorder. Nevertheless, a decent chart recorder costs highly, increasing many backup costs. On the other hand, it is time-consuming if a backup chart recorder is purchased for the occasion of each inspection operation in exterior environments and thereby the schedule might be delayed. According to the experience, after thousands of inspection operations in exterior environments are completed, it is required to finish the report in one week. Consequently, the requirement for data processing and performance integration is extremely high. The work is hard to be accomplished without proficient personnel and good data management and computer database.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a computerized chart recorder, which uses a computer to emulate the function of a recorder by printing promptly the variation trend measured by a measurement instrument and the necessary information for quality control. The computerized chart recorder according to the present invention can set directly the output amplitude and the percentage range for overcoming the adjustment problem of multiple detecting heads. It also connects to the computer directly, and converts charts and data to database directly, which is particularly beneficial for organizing tedious reports. Besides, graphical labels display the measured locations, facilitating schedule management of measurement tasks. The present invention is especially suitable for inspection operations in exterior environments with a huge amount of data. By applying the computerized chart recorder according to the present invention, data processing efficiency can be improved, and the annoyance of backuping costly chart recorders can be reduced.